Trip to Australia - Planning stage

It took months to plan and organise but now I have been and come back.  I made a diary of everything I did on the trip (well most things anyway) and I am going to share it with you over the next week or so.  

I had not been "home" for almost ten years.  Ten years since I seen my friends who I met in my young years and teens.  It was time to visit them and my family again.  I was also meeting up with people I had been in touch with, but never met.

I had planned to travel light, so choosing a cabin size bag on wheels, and a small bag for the cabin, I had to think what I needed and what I didn't.  I had to leave about 30 cms space in my case to bring a pile of old magazines of the 1950s.  Tell you more about that later. 

You may recall in a previous post, that my plans to go to Australia were postponed due to having to have a small operation where I could not travel long haul for at least six weeks after the operation.  I decided to wait nine months!  By doing this I could go to my father's 90th birthday party.

With the plans in place, itineraries emailed to friends and family, case packed, I was ready to leave.  I had cleaned the house from top to bottom, cooked enough meals and cakes to last my OH 14 days, after which he would need to prepare his own for the remainder of the time.  Time just run out for me to complete the whole 33 planned meals.

Soon the big day arrived.......